Belt fastener



Jan. 8 1924. 1,479,850

w. H. BRADsHAw E1' Al.

BELT FASTENER Filed May 23. 1921 attoxncq( Patented Jan.' 8, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

'WILLIAM H. BRASDSHAW, OF LANSDOWNE, PENNSYLVANIA, AND HENRY W. LYNDALL,

OF WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, ASSIGNORS TO MAIN BELTING COMPANY, OF PHILA-DELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORlPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

naar FASTENEB..

Application mail Hay 23, 1921.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that we WILLIAM H. BRAD- sHAW and HENRY W. TYNDALL, citizensof the United States, residing at Lansdowne, Delaware County,Pennsylvania, and Wilmington in the county of New Castle and State ofDelaware, respectively, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Belt Fasteners, of which the following is as eeication.

l his invention relates to improvements in belt fasteners and moreparticularly to that type offastener adapted to engage and connect theadjacent ends of a be t to hold the same in a relatively fixed osition.

One of the objects of t e resent invention is to provide an improve beltfastener of the above general character scientifically constructed, yetsimple and practical and one which may be easily and inexpensivelymanufactured.

Another object is to provide a belt fastener of the aboveY characterhaving relatively few parts which may be readily stamped from sheetmetal or formed from any suitable material such as brass, or cast ironwhich is subsequently made malleable, whereby the l adjacent ends of thebelt may be connected with a minimum amount of trouble and expense.

A further ,object is to provide a belt` fastener of the above characterwhich will beV more reliable and eicient in use and cooperate with theadjacent-ends of a belt in a manner adapted to prevent tearing out atthe oint of connection and also prevent brea age or crackin of the beltadjacent the outer ed es of the asteners as so often occurs in t epresent types of construction in general use. Y

A further object is to provide a belt fastener of the above characterwhich will more easily and smoothly pass around the circumference of apulley without leaving the surface of the pulley at any time, therebyeliminating jars or shocks common to the present type offastener. Such atype obviously increases the eiciency in that the surface of the belt isat all times in enga ement with the surface ofthe pulley from 51e momentit co-acts therewith to the moment it Yleaves the same.

In order that the present invention may be more clearly understood, itmay be stated Serial No. 471,687.

at the outset that the present type of fastener is particularly adaptedfor use in connection with belts employed in train lighting systems.These belts, as is well known to those familiar with the art, areexposed to extreme atmospheric conditions as well as the dust and dirtof the road. They are particularly subjected to severe shocks and jarsdue to starting, stopping or coupling of cars and the twisting andturning action due to the relative location of the pulleys carried bythe generator on the car and the car axle. Heretofore with certain typesof belt fasteners so applied, there has been a decided tendency for thefabric, or material of the belt, to crack or break adjacent thetransverse edge of the fastener due to the change in an larity betweenthe free portion of the be t and that portion that is made solid andunyielding by reason of its engagement with the fastener. This point hasperhaps been appreciated for many years, and for the past half centurinventors have sought to overcome this o jection, among others, by theemployment of a two part fastener constructed on the general plan of adoor hinge, on the assumption that the adjacent ends of the belt andassociated fastener would more easily accommodate themselves to thecurvature of the pulley as the belt passes therearound. These inventorshave never taken into scientific consideration the relative location ofthe point of turning or rather the theoretical axis of the pintle of thehinge with respect to the line of pullror effort exerted by the belt,and the present invention hereinafter described is designed to overcomethe above, among other, objections heretofore common in this art, and asforming part of the present disclosure a single sheet of drawings isattached, in which- Figure l illustrates diagrammatically in elevationthe periphery of a pulley and section of the belt and fastener; and

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the fastener.

Figure 3 is a section on line 3 3 Figure 2.

Referring to Figure 1, in detail, 2 fenotes a portion of the peripheryof a pulley and 3 and 4 are the adjacent ends of the belt adapted to beconnected by a hinged fastener 5 such as shown in Fi re 2. This fastenercomprises hinged mem ers or leaves 6 and 7,

the backswof which are substanti villy flat While t iihae'rsu'es aietoipform teV lie 'uriiatilr of tlie siiiiliice ol the pulley 2. Theparte 6 and 7 are provided with u plurality of int'ertting' projections8 having c'entrl openings Ytluou, 1;b which a pivot or pintle 10 isadapted tjpass. Both leaves or parts of the fast-ener are provided witha plurality of fastening devices W'lic'li are preferably in the 'ornlofrelatively Hat longitudinally disposed iirt'd'g'e-sliaijed teetli llarranged in parallel rows as indicatedat 1 are i3 a taeter er Figureriale aah o one row bein iirranged'in stggeredrela tien with respect totbe teetli in' the other rotti as nitire clei'ly eho'y'vh in Fi ure i?,of the draW'in vs. or cI yeninceot the fob loiiiin"l eXfi anatioi, t ere'is indicated il; dette' lines a portieri bfthe-be1t14tagni totheLpulley Qat tbe point 16 lwhich is the outer edi'fe off outer'row ofteeth ll, f'tlielbfgt tul'd appear when leavingv the e t i it p Ydeteriiintion of tbe ViccetiollY of vtbe pivt in is Obtained as iet Das;'There s tirst 'rliiairn a ,section of the belt l-LG, in

I coiitat viv'ith` VVeIiulley, Well asia portion 15,14 in dead lines,afngieli; t6 the Vparte; at Vi6. A line is then to indieate the central"lane of the'. belt'tlifrougli tb part le id'eno 'dby the line 18; Tb'sAin icates tlie center lane of effort of tle'belt and on Y tlis centerrile Vthe ipi' lOsliiild be located.

'lille aie otlie Yin l) lies inV a -plmb 4silbstantilly iiriia to faradius el the inner ciirye Vsurface 'at tbe outer edge ofthe outerfastening deifices ofsaid ineiber, and at a poiii on eaid radiusinf'pnitliecurved surfaee of said nienib i' a instance equal to hlftlie'thicliiess' of telle belt to vtjliicli tlie evice fs adapted to befatta It Will be evident to "tlose skilled iii t le art that if tl e pill) V.were located above tliis line. V,the belt wenn tiene neng er@transverse une 1e, after it lbft the pulley, Iin order to permit the,pin to assuinef position on this line of vtort. If, en the other harta,the p i'n i0 were Positioned below lthe line 18, it )youd bend nitli'eopposite direction in ordento peiniit the pin to assunte a location online. so locating tile pin as idi'ated above, two important points raveleen acroni lished: first, the oscillation of the book or astener aboutthe "in is reduced to a nii'nini'uni; secondgr the ending of the beltbeck of the hook or aleiig the line I6 is entirely eliminated. Since thebreaking of a belt at tlie hooi r faetener is diie aliiuost entirely tothis. bending, which would occur on other hooks :l'n'g a litreAcorresponding to the line 1b, a desirable eature in belt hookconstructonbas Ybeen attained. AS Previously atfitel, rheek attestate?may be inade of any. desired rnaterial Such as` pressed steel, droppedforged malleable i1'o,n,.etc.V The latter, however, is pr ferabl citYlas be'ei fuid by reeate experiments and long experience underpractical conditions that teeth cast inte ral with the back of thefastener as beieins bien L"will liold tire end of the belt far Y'lnbreEVtenaciously than anyY other method of fastening. y By constructing theback of the book or fastener, as shown, the hook may be laid upon aPiece flat iron or tile like While the belt 1s being applied withoutdanger of distorting the curvature of tbe under sur,- face of the hook.Heretofore WhereY curved hooks or fasteners have been used, tlliey `areusually colnpletelyilattened before theapplic'atlon oi the beltroinpletefgl and frequently reversed in curvature so that the outside.of the baci; was straight and the insideisconvex. Tliisko course,entirely destroyed the value of tbe fastener so liar as it related tothe acconiplisln lent ofltlie elimination of the objections above noted,for, under such conditions the pivot point of tlie lfastener Would beout ozt tbe lane of effort of the belt andrconsequently 1t would bendalong the line 16 at cire-y revolution and shortly crack tlie belt at lat line. I!

t` belieted tliatVA aboife iwill so clearly reveal the principalfeatures of tbe present invention and the objects accerti; plisliedthereby that a furthenstatenient pif tli'e use and operation arebeliered be unnecessary. The linvention is a simple, practicalconstrudtion,A reliable and efficient in use, and far incre d'urableiinAoperation with the associated belt than fasteners now on tlie market.

We claim: Y

1. In a device of the character described adapted to connect tlieadjacentends of a belt, comprising two complementaryrjasteuer membershinged together alongl `their adjacent edges, the outer surfaces of saidmembers bein flat, tbelinner surfaces of Sad members eilig curyedsubstantially .to the curvat re of a pulley with which itlis tobeus'edl, and fastening devices ontlie curved surfaces adapted to securea belt thereto, and a pivot pin. i Y

2. 1n a device of te character described adapted to connect tie adacentends of a belt, coinprisinuj two complementary fastener ineinbers iingedtogetlieralong their adjacent; .dges, tbe outer surfaceslyof saidniernbels 'ein fiat, tbe inner sunfaces of said members eing curvedsubstantially t0 the curvature of a ulley witb 1which it is to be used,fastening Y eyicesn tile curvedgsurfaees adapted to Ysecure a beltitbturetjci, angla inwhose axis islocated substantially central plane,lof alfort oftliat pill;-n

abit of the bea, as a leaves thepuuey, which i is tangent to t e pulleyatlthe outer edge of y the outer fastening means while te complementarymembers and adjaeentparts of the belt are still in engagement with thepulley.

3. In a device of the character described adapted to connect theadjacent ends of a belt comprising two complementary fastener membershinged together along their adjacent edges, the outer surfaces of saidmembers bein flat, lthe inner surfaces of said members eing curvedsubstantially to the curvature of a pulley with which it is to be used,fastening devices on the curved surfaces adapted to secure a beltthereto, and a ivot pin whose axis is located substantia ly in thecentral plane of eiiort of tle ielt to which the fastener has been ap-1e f p 4. In a device of the character described adapted to connect theadjacent ends of a belt comprising two complementary fastener membershinged together along their adjacent edges, the outer surfaces of saidmembers beln iiat, the inner surfaces of said members icing curvedsubstantiall to the curvature of a pulley with which it 1s to be used,fastening devices on the curved surfaces adapted tosecure a beltthereto, and a Hivot pin whose axis is located substantia y in thecentral plane of effort of the belt to which the fastener has beenapplied when said plane of effort is tangent to a circle concentric withthe ulley over which the belt is passing at a ine passing through theouter edge of the outer fastenin devices.

n testimony whereof we ax our signatures.

WILLIAM H. BRADSHAW. HENRY W. LYNDALL.

